I was planning to write about the Gospel of Matthew today, but Tuesday my husband, Mike, mentioned that I’d like to rename the prodigal son parable to the prodigal Father.  Why prodigal?  Because prodigal means extravagant, lavish, generous, excessive, unrestrained …. Or wasteful.

The Pharisees had a lifetime of practicing the many Jewish laws and thought they had it all figured out.  They understood God was to be feared and respected. God’s wrath was to be avoided by following the laws.  They were comforted by this system.  God was a God who delivered the Israelites- true.  God was faithful with God’s promises- yes.  God was a God to be revered and obeyed- certainly.  Omnipotent…powerful- yes.  But not personal.  Not intimate.  Not Father!  And certainly not “Abba!”  Then along came Jesus.  Jesus broke all the rules.  Jesus ate with the tax collectors, touched the lepers, healed on the Sabbath, spoke with prostitutes, welcomed the sinner, and claimed the Pharisees were the ones getting things wrong!  Incredulous!!  Jesus tells the crowd a parable about a prodigal son… actually it’s about two lost sons and a prodigal Father.  You know the story, but what’s Jesus’ point?  What’s he trying to tell us?

The father in the story is God.  This is a profoundly personal and intimate role for God to play!  Yet, this is no mistake.  Over and over again, Jesus gives us the image of father to relate to God.  When he teaches his disciples to pray he begins saying, “Our Father…”  In Mark 14, Jesus calls God “Abba” or “Daddy.”  In Romans 9:8 and Ephesians 1:5, we’re told we’re adopted into God’s family.  Jesus lived as though everyone is a child of God and loved by God.  Jesus lived with extravagant love, constantly reminding us that he and the Father are one.  THIS is the point of the story: God is not the God we have imagined.  God is not an unrelenting and angry judge who is distant most times and who must be feared.  Jesus lets us know we had it wrong.  God is “Papa” or “Daddy.”  God is our loving and caring Father.  God forgives us.  God is for us.  God is with us.  God loves us.  And it doesn’t matter what we do because we are God’s beloved children.  God loves us because of who God is, not because of what we’ve done.  God’s love is extravagant, lavish, and some might even say wasteful.  God has a prodigal love for us.  If you want to hear more, come to worship with us at JOY on June 8th.  Read Luke 15:11-32, and remember: God loves you unconditionally!  Always has.  Always will.

Annie